Move Over ‘The Terminal List’ — This 7-Season Military Drama Packs Even Bigger Thrills

If your favorite aspect of The Terminal List (and its new hit prequel The Terminal List: Dark Wolf) is everything we see with the Navy SEALs, then we have some good news for you… While the stories of James Reece (Chris Pratt) and Ben Edwards (Taylor Kitsch) ultimately turn into revenge and spy thrillers as time goes on, there’s one multi-season television drama that sticks with the nitty-gritty of what it means to be a SEAL, both domestically and abroad. If you guessed SEAL Team, then you’d be right — and if you haven’t spent any time with this intense military drama, it’s about time you gave it a shot.

‘SEAL Team’ Spent Seven Years Detailing the Lives of Navy SEALs

Beginning in 2017, SEAL Team was greenlit by CBS after the History Channel aired a popular miniseries about the SEALs titled Six. But instead of following the famed “SEAL Team Six” counter-terrorism unit, the network television drama focused on Bravo Team, a unit under the banner of the United States Naval Special Warfare Development Group (NSWDG). Following the ending of Bones, David Boreanaz was brought in to headline the series as Master Chief Jason Hayes, who faithfully leads Bravo Team in the wake of whatever new threat they encounter. Alongside Boreanaz is Fire Country star Max Thieriot, who plays rookie Clay Spenser. At first, Clay is only in training, but over the course of the series becomes a SEAL in his own right. Although the pair rarely seem to see eye to eye, they become brothers over time, with Clay becoming a full-fledged member of Bravo Team. Joining them are Ray Perry (Neil Brown Jr.), Sonny Quinn (A.J. Buckley), Lisa Davis (Toni Trucks), and CIA liaison Mandy Ellis (Jessica Paré), among others, all who fight for the nation’s security with everything they have.

But what especially sets a show like SEAL Team apart from a shorter, more focused drama like The Terminal List is that it pushes the members of Bravo Team both on and off mission. As they travel around the world taking down terrorist cells and potential threats to the U.S., SEAL Team takes the time to highlight the personal trials and tribulations that each operator faces at home. No doubt, the CBS drama puts our heroes right in the middle of the action, with intense shootout sequences and combat missions that speak to what the real-life American heroes do routinely while in the service. But lesser known are some of the challenges unique to the military lifestyle. Jason struggles to maintain a family life and take care of his rocky marriage, Clay falls in love and fights to convince her that he’s worth keeping around, and others have to deal with the loss of loved ones or physical injuries that may never fully heal. As the show goes on, SEAL Team also delves into the mental health of former operators, resulting in a climactic and powerful moment near the end of the sixth season that rocked audiences to their core.

Like ‘The Terminal List,’ a Real Navy SEAL Was Involved in the Development of ‘SEAL Team’

One of the reasons that shows like The Terminal List and Dark Wolf feel so authentic is that author and former SEAL Jack Carr shaped the franchise (and the original novels) from his own experience. But long before Carr’s Prime Video series made waves, SEAL Team fought to make the military drama as authentic as possible, specifically by utilizing former SEAL Mark Owen in the development of the series. In fact, SEAL Team employed a host of former armed forces operators over the years, including both in the writers’ room and on set as extras, stunt coordinators, and as actors (such as Mark Semos and Tyler Grey), helping the show to look a bit closer to reality than most. As series star David Boreanaz once explained on The Rachel Ray Show, “We’ve hired almost 100 veterans… that have been a part of our show, and we relish that.” According to Boreanaz, the cast and crew consider these veterans “producers” rather than simple technical advisors, as they are involved in each story from the initial development to the end credits.

Of course, this type of authenticity ultimately falls on the shoulders of the actors. Those who watch SEAL Team know that the stars tackle these roles with their care, hoping to honor both the real-life operators on the scene and infuse a part of themselves into the characters. “I like the fact that Jason is so conflicted, internally, being a Navy SEAL Tier 1 guy,” Boreanaz once told Collider. “Their brains and their mentalities are really just wired to go. They don’t think about it, they just go. So, when you have moments with family, you have to downshift.” That’s the mentality that Boreanaz brought to the role of Jason Hayes, something that can only come from speaking with someone who has lived through that kind of regimented life. The reason SEAL Team is so effective as a military drama is that it spends its time actively working with those who know what it’s like to be a Navy SEAL, infusing the show with an authenticity that cannot be easily replicated.

‘SEAL Team’ Goes Farther Than ‘The Terminal List’ Was Able

For several years, SEAL Team aired faithfully on CBS, but eventually, the network opted to do something different with the show. After first airing a few episodes of its fifth season on the network, the series pivoted to Paramount+, where it ran for two more seasons. The migration to streaming gave SEAL Team more wiggle room to delve deeper into certain aspects of SEAL life, and pushed the characters further than the network would likely have gone. Becoming more cinematic in scope and scale, the final years of SEAL Team are just as intense and engaging as the first, with many wishing the program didn’t end at all. But with 114 episodes total to binge through over the course of those seven seasons, SEAL Team is one drama that is easy to keep watching. Even better, it’s a show that ends on its own terms.

If you enjoy the military thrills seen in The Terminal List franchise, then SEAL Team should be your next binge. It may not be as visually intense as the Prime Video drama (it did start out on network television, after all), but it makes up for that with great characters who will keep you invested no matter the hell they endure. For any fan of the military thriller or who cares deeply about the lives of those in the armed forces, this CBS-turned-Paramount+ series is a must-watch.